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Tyrone job still important to Harte

Tyrone manager Mickey Harte

Only a small number of other counties have enjoyed the same level of success as that relished by Tyrone players and fans since the late nineties.

It is perhaps easy to forget the list of honours which includes the three senior All-Irelands, two National Leagues, two All-Ireland U-21 titles, five All-Ireland Minors and the numerous other provincial successes.

More recent history has, of course, brought a sharp dose of reality and the defeats by Cavan in the Ulster U-21 finals of the past two years indicate that nothing is guaranteed and there is no room for complacency.

That’s a lesson which Harte will obviously be keen for all to learn as the stars of many of those underage successes bid to make their mark where it matters most on the senior provincial and All-Ireland stages.

“If I felt that I didn’t have the energry for this role then I would step back, but at the moment I feel renewed with the new batch of players. There’s a real energy going into what we’re doing at the minute,” he continued.

“It has been therapeutic for all of us involved with the team. We all had to go on living our lives after things that we wouldn’t want to have been experiencing. A lot of the players have collectively had to work their way through those things as well.

“People might also forget that many of the players have endured difficult setbacks not just in sport but also in life over the years. As a manager, you have to acknowledge how loyal they have been to Tyrone and the people of the county.”